Hamely

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Warm, familiar and informal in manner, making someone feel comfortable as if they were at home
2. Describing a relaxed, unpretentious friendliness that resembles the easy comfort of one's own house
3. Having the cozy, intimate feel of home and a plain, welcoming manner that puts people at ease

Etymology: "Hamely" comes from Old English "hāmlīc," formed from "hām," meaning "home," and the suffix "-līc," which gave us the modern "-ly." The pattern is simple: a noun plus a suffix producing an adjective meaning "like or belonging to" that noun. So "hamely" originally meant something like "homelike" or "belonging to the home," and it was once a fairly ordinary word for domestic things. The meaning drifted over the centuries. In Middle English and early modern English, "homely" (the spelling that eventually won out in most of the world) could also mean plain, simple, or unpolished, as in a homely dwelling or homely food. That sense of "unpretentious" is the link to the modern meaning of warmth and ease, since a plain, unfussy welcome feels like being at home. Here, "hamely" is an older spelling that survives mainly in Scottish and northern English usage, where it keeps the warm, informal sense. Its relative "homely" has, in American English especially, developed the much less flattering sense of "not attractive," a reversal that makes the older spelling's gentler meaning stand out.

Synonyms: homely, homelike, cosy, familiar

Antonyms: unfriendly, alien